(New York) The young American Kyle Rittenhouse, just acquitted after killing two men during an anti-racist protest in 2020, justified his actions by congratulating himself that self-defense is “not illegal”, in an interview after this verdict that leaves the United States divided.
“The jury reached the right verdict: self-defense is not illegal […] It was a tough journey, but we did it. We did the hard part, ”Kyle Rittenhouse, who has become the muse of part of the American right, launched on Fox News.
As a foretaste of this interview with the 18-year-old, who is due to pass Monday night, the Conservatives’ favorite channel aired clips where he appears visibly relieved, in a car driving him back from court. Other passages dwell on the nightmares Kyle Rittenhouse says he is a victim of today.
This chubby-faced boy was on trial for having killed two men, aged 26 and 36, and wounded a third, on August 23, 2020 in the town of Kenosha (Wisconsin), with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle he had provided. to go out with armed groups to “protect” businesses, during demonstrations against racism. He had pleaded self-defense, claiming to have fired after being chased and attacked by these three men, all white like him.
“If it had been black …”
After a lawsuit that fascinated America and once again highlighted the country’s fractures over guns and the Black Lives Matter movement, the twelve jurors in a Wisconsin state court declared it “Not guilty” of the five charges against him, including murder.
“We are still in shock at this result. We can’t believe it […] he should have taken 40 years in prison, ”John Huber, the father of one of the victims, told CNN on Saturday. On screen, the man was holding a small cremation urn and a photo, throwing “here is my son”.
“It has always been so […] If (Kyle Rittenhouse) had been black, he wouldn’t have been released “on bail while awaiting trial,” Huber added.
“Stop the war against black America”, “Fight white power” proclaimed on Friday from their side in New York the banners of demonstrators claiming to be part of the “Black Lives Matters” movement. Protest marches also took place in other cities, Chicago or Portland where they turned into clashes with the police.
Several stars such as singer Lady Gaga or former American footballer Colin Kaepernick denounced the verdict and Democratic President Joe Biden said he was “worried and angry”, while asking Americans to respect the court ruling.
But on the other side of the political field, his predecessor Donald Trump welcomed, still on Fox News, the decision of the jurors, judging that the young man should not even have been prosecuted.
A pro weapons lobby, “Gun Owners of America”, also promised on Twitter to offer an AR-15 rifle as a reward to Kyle Rittenhouse for his defense of the “right to be armed in America”.